Cigar-bunching machine.



J. F. SGAIFE & F. J. HUETGBR.

. CIGAR BUNCHING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 3, 1910.

Patented Oct. 24, 1911.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN FRANCIS SOAIFE AND FREDERICK J. HUETGER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENN- .SYLVANIA.

CIGAR-BUNGI-IING- MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24, 1911.

Application filed December 3, 1910. Serial No. 595,376.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN F. Soarrn and F REDERICK J HUETGER, citizens of the United States, and residents of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cigar-Bunching Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in cigar bunching machines and the objects of our invention are as follows: 1st, to furnish a cigar bunching machine with a fiat large table top upon which the bunch is rolled by the machine and upon which the machine formed bunch can be subsequently rolled by hand in order to give it the same formation and condition heretofore obtainable only by hand work. 2nd, to furnish an improved adjustable means for carrying the roller around which passes the band or apron in which the bunch is rolled. 3rd, to furnish an improved means for carrying and guiding the roller supports in their lateral movements to and fro of the table. 4th, to furnish in connection with a means for clamping the band or apron to the back of the rolling table a pocket for receiving the rolled bunch when it is discharged from the apron and in connection with a means for clamping the apron to the front of the table an adjustable gage whereby the length of the bunch may be accurately measured after rolling so as to insure bunches of uni form length. 5th, to furnish certain other improvements hereinafter fully described.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views: Figure 1, is a plan of a cigar bunch rolling machine embodying our improvements; Fig. 2, a side elevation of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a front elevation of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a section of Fig. 1 on line mw,' Fig. 5, a side elevation, enlarged, of one of the frames for carrying the roller, of part of the roller and of the carrying parts for this frame; Fig. 6, a front elevation of Fig. 5.

1 is a table preferably, but not necessarily, constructed of wood.

2 are metal guides to the sides of table 1 the tops of which form a continuation of the table top as best shown in Figs. 3 and 6, that is to say the tops of the guides and of the table lie in the same plane forming a smooth unbroken surface upon which the bunch is rolled.

3 is the usual depression in table 1 to re ceive bight of apron 5 and the tobacco preparatory to forming the bunch.

4 is a roller movable lengthwise of table 1 and 5 a band or apron opposite ends of which are secured the one to the front and the other to the rear of the table.

The operation of rolling the binder around the bunch while in the apron is so well known as not to need detailed description here, but itmay be stated that the bunch is drawn along in the apron and rolled around on its longitudinal axis be tween the roller 1 and the table 1 until the roller reaches the rear end of the table when the completed bunch is dropped into a con caved holder 6 which is formed integrally with the clamp 7 which is secured to the rear end of the table and which serves to hold the rear end of the apron. The bunch having been formed in the usual manner and having been discharged from the apron is lacking in what cigar makers term condition, a certain elasticity which can only be given by hand rolling, hence after the bunch has been made in the machine we desire to roll it by hand until it acquires the proper condition, and to this end we make a table top perfectly fiat and unobstructed, except by the apron 5 which is so thin that it does not interfere with the hand rolling. If the roller 1 be parallel to the table top 1 a cylindrical bunch will be formed, but if one of the ends of the roller be farther from the table top than the other a conical bunch will be formed. This latter shape is frequently desired and in order that adjustments of the roller can be quickly made we carry its shaft 8 in bearings which are capable of easy and rapid adjustment vertically.

9 are slides which are placed in the guides 2 carried by the sides of the table 1. Secured to the slides 9 are frames 10 the upper ends of which are slotted at 11 to allow the passage of the shaft 8.

12 are U shaped clips which pass over the sides of the frames 10 and which are slotted or perforated at 13 for the passage of the shaft 8 and which carry at their outer ends a bolt and nut 14:, or equivalent device, by means of which their ends may be drawn together in order to clamp them to the frames 10. By loosening the bolt and nut 14. the clips 12 may be moved vertically on the frames 10 to adjust them, and the end of the roller which they carry, vertically as may be necessary for bunches of diiferent shapes.

The operator faces the machine from the end carrying the plate 19 and in order that the roller 1 and its supports may olfer as little obstruction as possible to the placing of the tobacco in the apron under the roller 4 preparatory to rolling thebinder on the bunch it is desirable that the supports 10 for the roller, and the roller itself, be as close as possible to the table. The roller supports 10' are secured to the outer sides of the slides 9, pass up vertically sufliciently to clear the top of the table, are then bent inwardly passing close to the table top, then upwardly to carry the roller as shown. The

horizontal parts of the supports 10 lie so close to the table that they ofi'er practically no obstruction to the hands or arms and permit the operator to manipulate the tobacco for the filler from the sides instead of'from the top of the roller.

The bunch having been formed in the apron is, when the roller reaches the forward end of the table, discharged from the apron and falls into the tray 6. The operator now takes the bunch and rolls it by hand upon the table 1 in order to give it the condition which is impossible to obtain' by the mechanical rolling that it receives in the apron. To conveniently-permit this hand rolling the table ismade very considerably wider than the length of the roller.

Both the guides 2 and the slides 9 are of metal. Secured to the slides 9 are rods 15 which are parallel to one another and to the slides 2, these rods are secured to a cross-head 16 which carries a slide 17, placed preferably centrally of the cross-head, which travels on a rod or guide 18 parallel to guides 2. The purpose of the cross-head and connected parts is to insure a perfectly rectilinear movement of the slides 9 in the guides 2. The front end of the apron 5 is clamped to the front end of table 1 by a plate 19 an extension of which is concaved, as at 20, slotted at 21 and furnished with a movable gage 22 and a stop 23 between which and the gage 22 the length of the bunch may be determined.

24 is a hinged cover which is employed to cover the rear end of the machine, particularly the cross-head and its guide 18. This cover forms a continuation of the table 1 and may or may not engage the table.

Having thus described our invention we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

In a cigar bunching machine, in combination, a flat table, guides upon the sides of said table, slides adapted to travel upon said guides, frames carried by said slides the ends of which are bent in opposite directions and the intermediate parts of which are adapted to lie close to said table top, a roller carried by said frames, the length of said roller being considerably less than the width of said table, rods carried by said slides, a cross-head connecting said rods, a slide carried by said cross-head, and a guide parallel to said first guides upon which the guide carried by said cross-head travels.

JOHN FRANCIS SOAIFE. FREDERICK J. HUETGER.

Witnesses:

FERD. E. V. SAPPINGTON, CHARLES A. BUTTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

